Enduring Revolver Myths?

[Boats]

Everyone has heard them. There is much misinformation about various revolvers and much of it gets endlessly parroted on the boards. I will start with ones that make my teeth grate when I see them:

1. That the revolver is obsolete. (This one only comes up every couple of weeks.)
2. That snubbies are inaccurate. (Well duh, if one doesn't practice).
3. That a K frame will warp if you fire more than a box of .357 Mags out of them.
4. That a Colt Detective Special cannot handle .38Spec+P (Well maybe the really old ones can't, but that's true of almost all of the old timey .38s)
5. That the Ruger GP-100 is heavier and larger than the S&W 686. (They weigh the same in the same barrel lengths and they can share holsters).
6. That a revolver could never cut it under battlefield conditions. (They were only making the grade through the Vietnam War.)
7. That firing a .357 Magnum in a dark room will blind you for the follow-ups. (Not if you use a flash suppressed SD loading).

Any others?

 

[Lou22]

Another is: you can't shoot .38 special out of a .357 magnum, then shoot .357 in the same gun without first scraping the gunk out of the cylinders. I guess it could be a problem if your .38 loads are really, really dirty, though, but I've never had a problem doing it.

Lou

 

[Colt46]

the perception that all firearms have manual safeties

Once in a while I've heard mention of a revolver that has one. Can't think of any offhand though.

 

[wanderinwalker]

My biggest teeth-gritter:

Revolvers don't malfunction!

Yes, I hear people say that and read people writing it, here and elsewhere. It just ain't so people! I've had an ejector rod come unscrewed on a Smith and Wesson and seen gunk under the ejector tie up other revolvers. Plus, one day I watched a fellow spin the cylinder of his Colt Python 6 times to fire 6 rounds of factory ammo. So much for "just pull the trigger again if it doesn't go off".

And for those who think the SA revolver is immune to problems, ever launch a cylinder base pin downrange? BTDT, worn old Ruger in .44 Magnum.

FWIW, I am more of a revolver fan than a semi-auto fan, but I think we need to keep things in perspective.

Oh, another one that comes up around here. "There are Ruger-only loads in loading manuals" when talking about S&W versus Ruger, in .44 Magnum and .357 Magnum. There are no .357 and .44 loads for "Rugers Only" in any manual I've ever seen!

 

[christcorp]

True, but there are "Ruger Only Rounds" in the 45LC. They aren't meant for non-ruger 45 long colts. They are quite hot. I used them hunting with my blackhawk. The ballistics were damn near close to a 44 mag. Pretty hot. Later... Mike....

 

[Tomcat47]

1.That the revolver is obsolete. (Not in America!)
2.That snubbies are inaccurate. (When pigs fly!).
3.That a K frame will warp if you fire more than a box of .357 Mags out of them. (Bull@$%!)
4. That a Colt Detective Special cannot handle .38Spec+P (Doubt it! but do not like +p ammo anyway-if you want a .357 buy one!)
5. That the Ruger GP-100 is heavier and larger than the S&W 686. (Nope! dont think so! Both great anyway).
6. That a revolver could never cut it under battlefield conditions. (History says otherwise!) :banghead:
7. That firing a .357 Magnum in a dark room will blind you for the follow-ups. (Not my first choie for SD, but OK! I guess, who cares as long as the firt shot blinds the assailant! I will adjust waiting on the police!).
Boats.... let em blab Revolver, Auto, I love em all! The only Auto I eer hunted with was my Dessert Eagle .357 magnum. My favorite hunter is my Taurus
.357 Magnum. And my all time favis th time tested ruger 22/22mag. conv. Oh how fun theyy are. Take my Ruger Mk2 and contender single shot .41 Magnum to turkey shoots (the ones that will allow it...they hate the contender...usually end up with a 3-4 limit on hams or turkeys then I have to put it up or let someone else shoot it. thats ok too everyone needs some meat! I dont mind sharing)

 

[Deer Hunter]

An S&W can take a "ruger only" round easily. The ruger will break after 2000 ro unds, the S&W after 1900 rounds of "ruger only" rounds.

But you know what will break before the guns? Your wallet and bank account!

 

[Hawk]

And for those who think the SA revolver is immune to problems, ever launch a cylinder base pin downrange? BTDT, worn old Ruger in .44 Magnum.

No. But I got about 3 yards out of ejector rod assembly that decided it was fed up with being screwed to the barrel.

 

[zoom6zoom]

Apparently every mystery writer in the world believes that revolvers have safties.

 

[Onmilo]

Enduring movie revolver myth.
Six shot revolvers are capable of firing twelve or more shots before reloading.
I still see this in movies even today!

 

[Golddog]

Another myth, as a respectful dissent: that gunk under the extractor will tie up a revolver. I've fired maybe a hundred thousand rounds out of revolvers and never had that happen. Whenever that was alleged to be the case, endshake or misalignment was the real culprit.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Six shot revolvers are capable of firing twelve or more shots before reloading.

I have never understood why people get bent out of shape when a movie director doesn't show an actor reloading between shots. Obviously the guy had to reload, and that reloading was just left out of the movie. Who cares?

I watched Planet of the Apes last night. This movie takes place over a period of several months. And you know what, in that whole time Charlton Heston was never shown going to the bathroom. Does that mean the director expects me to beleive the he didn't pee for months? or was going to the bathroom just left out of the movie?

 

[armoredman]

Thunder Five .410 revolver has an AR style safety. And who can forgetthe Lemon Squeezer?

I had two wheelies fail on me, both Taurus, one under warrantee, the other too old to qualify. Taurus fixed both, and I now own neither, by choice. But, I will never get rid of my Smith Model 10-8!

 

[elrod]

Hertage arms SA revolvers have manual safeties. All revolvers should have an undefeatable safety connected to the trigger finger, but it don't always work!:banghead:

 

[Vern Humphrey]

That a revolver could never cut it under battlefield conditions. (They were only making the grade through the Vietnam War.)

I saw many a Smith and Wesson turn into junk in Viet Nam.

 

[Onmilo]

One especially blatant movie that comes to mind,
"48 Hours"
Another one,
"Open Range" even though they did show some reloading scenes in this one the amount of gunplay between reloads caused me to chuckle.

 

[Rod B]

This isn't really a revolver myth. It's more like serious weapon abuse

I hate watching idiots on TV & in the movies flicking the gun so the cylinder slams into the frame. They think they are being "cool"

I keep hoping to see one of the clowns get his finger trapped in the process

 

[jad0110]

How about silencers on revolvers ?

The myth that annoys me the most is that autos are always easier to conceal than revolvers. That belief is so often repeated in gun magazines and on the Internet, included THR. Huh? For example, a glock 26 and a S&W x42 are the same L x W x H. Which would you think would be easier to conceal, the blocky Glock or the rounded Smith? Though I CCW neither currently, I find my 4" 686 easier to conceal than my XD service.

Basically, I've always believed that given a revolver and an auto of the exact same deminsions, the revolver will be easier to conceal. Perhaps not as comfortable to some because of the cylinder, of course. But a good holster may cure that ill.

YMMV.

And I do agree on the reliability issue, to an extent. Though I do like the fact that revolvers are typically less ammo sensitive.

 

[cajun47]

"I saw many a Smith and Wesson turn into junk in Viet Nam."

details? i know little about revolvers. this sounds interesting.

anyway i wonder whats the % failure rate for revolvers vs. semi autos. sure all guns can break but how many malfunctions would a revolver have compared to a semi auto?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Smiths in Viet Nam were issued to chopper pilots and so on. The guns were treated as you might expect -- left in vests, thrown around, and so on. Rear sights would fall off, the guns would go out of time. They would be clogged with gunge, and so on. It was not at all uncommon to have a gun lock up while "practicing" due to crud holding the rims too far back and tying up the cylinder.

I carried a Colt M357 my first tour and had no problems with it -- but I carried it in a full flap holster of my own design and treated it like a baby.

 

[ArmedBear]

Another is: you can't shoot .38 special out of a .357 magnum, then shoot .357 in the same gun without first scraping the gunk out of the cylinders. I guess it could be a problem if your .38 loads are really, really dirty, though, but I've never had a problem doing it.

Well, it depends on how MANY .38s you've fired in the gun.

I certainly have gotten my .357 gunked up enough to make it impossible to load .357 rounds. It takes a good number of .38s to do that, though.

 

[Stainz]

jad0110,

The 1895 Nagant was adaptable to a silencer. It's cylinder would move forward when cocked, it's concave exits mating against the inverted forcing cone's entrance, the long cartridge case also bridging where the 'gap' should have been. Oddly, they also had bayonet-fitted versions. Interesting revolver.

About long/short cases. ALWAYS shoot the longer cases first. This is most important when considering .454 Casull's and .45 Colts, less important with .45 Colts and .45 Schofields. A dangerous pressure spike can occur when the longer case tries to uncrimp, finding it's space clogged with carbon/lead residue from fired shorter-cased rounds. Still, I experimentally proved the folly of shooting some mild .44 Magnums AFTER shooting over 200 .44 Russians and Specials one day in my favorite 629MG... now a paper weight... DON"T DO IT!

Stainz

 

[jad0110]

Stainz,

I forgot about the Nagant, you are correct. They are interesting guns, I saw one in a pawn shop recently, don't remember the price. It look very used .

Other than the Nagant, silenced revolvers till seem pretty silly.

 

[Nightcrawler]

I've heard that someone, maybe the Israelis, once used suppressed revolvers. They'd take a Dan Wesson, screw the barrel in to minimize the cylinder gap, and then put a can on it. Don't know if it's true or is just an internet legend.

Knight's Armament (I think) produced many years ago some kind of weird integrally suppressed revolving rifle built around a Ruger Redhawk. I've seen it in movies once or twice, but don't know anything about it.

 

[yongxingfreesty]

revolvers are only good for 7yds, nothing out past that. HAHAH